Ariana Grande is reflecting on her relationship with ex Mac Miller seven years after his death.
While talking about the late rapper during her master class at Chapman University earlier this month, Grande, 32, explained that Miller encouraged her to “do the brave thing” and create R&B influenced pop music — something she is “very thankful” for.
“That’s also a part of why I was so eager to ask [Miller] to be a part of it,” Grande said in conversation with The Hollywood Reporter for the “Awards Chatter” podcast, referring to her 2013 track “The Way.”
She continued, “Not only because he was perfect for the song, but I also felt like I had him to thank for finding my sound.”
Aside from “The Way,” Grande and Miller also collaborated on his 2016 single “My Favorite Part” and a remix of her song “Into You,” which was also released in 2016.
Grande and Miller took their romance public in 2016, going Instagram official that September. The pair dated for nearly two years before splitting in May 2018. Months later, news broke that Miller died of an accidental overdose. He was 26.
Grande went on to pay tribute to Miller via Instagram.
“I adored you from the day I met you when I was 19 and I always will,” she wrote. “I can’t believe you aren’t here anymore. I really can’t wrap my head around it. We talked about this. So many times. I’m so mad, I’m so sad, I don’t know what to do. You were my dearest friend. For so long. Above anything else. I’m so sorry I couldn’t fix or take your pain away. I really wanted to. The kindest, sweetest soul with demons he never deserved. I hope you’re OK now. Rest.”
Nearly one year later, Grande reminisced on her relationship with Miller.
“By no means was what we had perfect, but, like, f***. He was the best person ever, and he didn’t deserve the demons he had,” she told Vogue in August 2019. “I was the glue for such a long time, and I found myself becoming… less and less sticky. The pieces just started to float away.”
Grande later shared that she believes Miller’s top priority was creating music.
“I think that nothing mattered more to him than music ever,” Grande said in an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s Beats 1 in 2020. “And he was the kind of person who woke up and rolled into the studio, tumbled out of bed, into the studio next door. Nothing was more important. Talk about losing track of time and forgetting to eat, remind yourself to take care of yourself and be a person. He was a person who gave literally every single second of his thought and time and life to his music.”
She continued, “It’s just such a beautiful gift I think that he kind of touched the world with, and I think the thing he’d want most is for us to just appreciate it and not forget about it.”
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